MM-orrery - Show the planets and their current relation to the Sun

I created an orrery module. The module shows the planets and their current relation to the Sun. (And in the interest of full disclosure I should say that I didn’t know the word orrery before I started on this little adventure. :- )

You can clone the module from here:

Here’s how it looks on my mirror:

This is my first module, and first foray into JavaScript for that matter, so any and all comments or suggestions on the module itself or the code behind it would be appreciated.

This is my first module, and first foray into JavaScript for that matter, so any and all comments or suggestions on the module itself or the code behind it would be appreciated.

I’m just and end user so I’m only stating what I would like to see in this module. I’m an amateur astronomer (in the loosest sense), with amateur Celestron and Meade telescopes, but I make great use of them, weather permitting. I have Planetrise on my mirror because of my enthusiasm for sky watching. I saw your module and immediately added it to my array.

I’d like to see better coloring for the planets, or an option to colorize each.
I’d like to see the orbits of the planets, or the option to see the orbits. If you are familiar with “Stellarium” then you know what I mean.
I’d like to see a more realistic scaling, even if that means the sun will occupy a great amount of real estate, or an option for scaling the sun and/or the planets.

Thank you, @Mykle1 and @broberg, for your replies. I’m glad you like the module, Mykle1. I’m an amateur astronomer, as well. I’ve got an 8" Celestron on a Dobsonian mount that I like bumping around the the sky when time and weather permit.

broberg, you’re exactly right. You can adjust the color, drawing radius, and scale of each planet via config settings. I’ve updated the documentation in the README file to give some examples.

On a geeky astronomy aside, what was really eye opening to me as I was developing this module was to set jupiterScale to 1.0 and see how the inner planets clump around the Sun. Then to set neptuneScale to 1.0 and see how Jupiter clumps in with the inner planets. Neptune is way, way out there.

As far as showing the orbits, that’s a feature I’m hoping to have “real soon now”. I’ll let you know once I get it added o the module.

Thanks,
Dave

P.S. It’s fun to see that Mercury has moved a couple of pixels since I first started developing this module. On the flip side, it’ll be about 80 years before Neptune moves from the lower right to the upper left of the display.

As far as showing the orbits, that’s a feature I’m hoping to have “real soon now”. I’ll let you know once I get it added o the module.

Fantastic!

P.S. It’s fun to see that Mercury has moved a couple of pixels since I first started developing this module. On the flip side, it’ll be about 80 years before Neptune moves from the lower right to the upper left of the display.

That’s awesome!

I’ve been sort of looking for a new scope. What I really want is a Meade LX90 10" or an LX200 but I’ll likely settle for an LX90 8" ACF or a LightSwitch 8". You know how expensive it can get.

I’m going to play with your module some more. Thanks again. Good stuff!